Effect of Place Attachment on Environmental Values in Oklahoma State Park Visitors

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if place attachment for park users explained proenvironmental values. One-hundred seventy participants were surveyed on-site at Lake Murray State Park in Ardmore, Oklahoma. Environmental values of state park visitors were measured by the New Ecological Paradigm Scale. Place attachment was measured using the Place Attachment Scale. Analyses included a confirmatory factor analysis, which disconfirmed the unidimensional structure of the New Ecological Paradigm Scale, a principal components analysis of the same scale, and regression analyses examining how place attachment and sociodemographic indicators explained environmental values in visitors of Lake Murray State Park. The findings indicated that park visitors were not strongly attached to Lake Murray State Park. The findings also suggested that place attachment was not a significant explanatory factor for environmental values in Lake Murray State Park visitors. A confirmatory factor analysis indicated that the New Ec